Islamic Center Must Violate Our Laws in Order to Have Religious Freedom

Liberty is paid for in installments, by each generation. Now is our time.

Friday morning, 4:10 am, Los Angeles, CA: I am being wired for sound. There are big hot lights pointed in my eyes, a screen depicting the Los Angeles skyline behind me, and a camera pointed at my face. In a few minutes I will be addressing a live audience of millions of viewers, about what I believe to be the defining issue of our time, the Islamization of the West.

I have reviewed all of the facts available to me, concerning recent Federal Government lobbying on behalf of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. I’ve read every news report on the subject I could find. I have consulted attorneys and experts, and sent over all of my notes to this major news network, to be vetted. And I have memorized all of the facts and condensed them into a few short sound bytes, in preparation for the moment that I am introduced, any minute now.

“Eric, shall we introduce you as a former Liberal documentary filmmaker?” a voice asks in my earpiece. “Sure, that sounds about right.” I answer, “Just either you mention or I’ll mention that the film was supposed to expose what I thought was Islamophobia, until I learned the truth about Islam.” Silence for a moment, and then, “Okay, please stand by”. I sit up on my seat and review the bullet points in my head one last time:

- The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro is building a 53,000 square foot mega mosque, in defiance of a court order, having obtained their permits illegally. The foreign born, Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Islamic leaders were court-ordered to stop, but have continued to build.

- Additionally, the Islamic Center had indicated publicly that, in spite of being denied an Occupancy Permit, they still intended to occupy their new compound in time for Ramadan. It seems to me that loyalty to Islam comes first, before anything, including respect for the law in America. And I see this trend happening all over the country right now and in Europe as well.

- I personally have no objection to any group worshipping in peace, but I do take issue when that group refuses to abide by our laws

- Judge Corlew, of Rutherford County, had ruled the permits void due to a violation of the open meetings act. The Mayor had been exposed, lying on the witness stand in court, about having financial dealings for many decades with a Board Member of the Islamic Center. He had first said he had never heard of this Egyptian Muslim leader, Essam Fathy, but only minutes later it was proven that Dr. Fathy was an important part of the Mayor’s substantial personal income.

- On Wednesday of this week, there were two discreet “Emergency” lawsuits filed, at the same time. One was filed by Ossama Bahoul, the Egyptian Cleric of this massive Islamic compound. But what I found especially bizarre was that the other was actually filed by the Federal Government – using our tax dollars. This had to have taken quite a bit of planning, timing and calculation. The alliance here is disconcerting and raises a lot of questions.

- Both lawsuits were heard immediately, and a ruling was made the same day, by a Federal Judge in Nashville, saying that the Islamic Center would be granted an emergency restraining order against Corlew’s ruling, so that the Islamic Center could celebrate Ramadan in their new compound, instead of at their existing facility. This unexpected move had all of the appearances of a backroom deal. The people of the affected community already had their day in court and won – but their lawyers were not informed of this hearing until after the fact. So I question why the Federal Government is circumventing the will of the people, and lobbying on behalf of an Islamic group – especially one with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

I had gone over my sound bytes one more time in my head, “So it seems that the Federal government is not only lobbying on behalf of an Islamic group. But the message here appears to be this – that not to allow the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro to violate our laws - is somehow a violation of their religious freedom”.

Show time: Another voice comes over the ear piece and says, “Eric, I’m so sorry but your segment has been preempted. There’s been a shooting at a movie theater in Colorado and we have to go to that right away. Can you come back tomorrow?”

In the car, on the way home, I listened as the morning news radio covered the tragedy. A young man entered a movie theater, shooting and killing many in attendance. It was premeditated. He has psychological problems. And experts predict that this might hurt how the latest “Batman” sequel will do in the box office. Every media outlet out there was covering this event and new details came to light, because if they did not, you might change the channel.

Horrible as this tragedy was, something like this happens every few years here in America. Meanwhile, brutality on this level is the norm in the Islamic world. However, in Islam a violent action such as this one is commanded in the Koran, as the person carrying it out is only following the example of the highest moral authority in Islam – the man to be imitated – Mohammed, who had said in Koran: 3:150 "We shall strike terror into the hearts of the Infidels.”